The weather has taken a recent turn for the worse in terms of temperature lately. Which I would be entirely upset about except for the fact that it has inspired a ton of slow cooker recipes. I’ve been experimenting, freezing some, and just going immediately to the slow cooker with others. Since I made a (very small) investment into a small slow cooker last year, I’ve been so happy with my decision. It makes life so much easier – especially during the week. I don’t know about you, but when it starts to get dark at 4pm, by the time I’m home from the office a few hours later it feels like it must be 11pm by then. I’m in no mood for anything complicated. I want a hot meal, a glass of wine, and my couch. Pronto. So spending a couple hours on Sunday to chop, measure, and seal ingredients in mason jars was a small price to pay for ready-when-you-walk-in-the-door meals all week.
One of these meals I actually made start to finish on Sunday. I was thinking about making chili, but didn’t quite have all the ingredients on hand. Instead, I used whatever I had in the cupboards and fridge to make a stew. A chili-inspired stew, but a stew nonetheless. I’m a big football fan and what goes better with Sunday night football than a hot, spicy bowl of tomatoes and beans? Add in a beer and you’re completely set. (I also like to use these moments to remind R how lucky he is he has a football watching crock-pot cooking beer-drinking girl. He usually responds with an eye roll.)
I had a few sweet potatoes lying around and I figured they would make an interesting addition to my faux chili – so I decided to use them as the main ingredient. I added in two types of beans – kidney and northern white – and some peppers, onion, and fire roasted canned diced tomatoes. These all helped to not only give the stew a semi-chili feel, but also really lived up the colors in the dish. I love any meal that’s full of colors. For some reason it makes me feel like I’m getting more nutrients, or maybe a better range of nutrients. And it’s just prettier to look at that way.
With the addition of some cumin, chili spice, garlic and liquid smoke, this stew went from just pretty to delicious. I’ve never used liquid smoke before in a stew and I have to say, it really made an interesting addition. I’ll likely be adding this to more recipes in the future. It’s just enough to add a complexity and depth to the stew, but not overpowering to where you immediately know there’s smoke in the soup. R couldn’t pinpoint what the flavor was, but he said he loved it. It was at that point I knew I had a winner on my hands.
This recipe made enough for two whole slow cooker batches for me, but I have a smaller slow cooker (for 2 people). If you have a bigger one, you can use the entire recipe as-is. If you’ve got a small one like mine, just mix all the ingredients together (minus the water and tomatoes) first, and then just put half in the slow cooker and the other half in a large mason jar for freezing. You’ll get about 4 servings out of a small batch, so 8 servings if you’re putting the entire recipe into the crockpot at once.
Another reason I love my slow cooker is that all the flavors of a dish really get time to mesh together and I feel like they get more flavorful the longer it’s cooking. I put this stew on in the late morning and by the time we ate dinner with football, all the spices had been hanging around together for about 6 hours – enough time to make the apartment smell delicious and make us seriously hungry.
I like to top mine with a little bit of fresh cilantro and some shredded cheddar Daiya cheese, but sour cream or chives would also do the trick. R is never one to enjoy leftovers, whereas I could eat the same lunch for a week. So for one serving of leftovers I added about 1/2 or 3/4 cup of cooked brown rice and turned the stew into a pseudo jambalaya. It was a quick and simple way to send him into work with a lunch that didn’t seem like he’d eaten it the night before. I added some chopped cilantro and green onions to the top and I just may have fooled him into thinking I made a new meal just for him. (It will be our little secret…)
So if you’re in the mood for a hearty, goes-well-with-football-and-cold-weather dish, break out the slow cooker and give this stew a try. Or make it into jambalaya. If you’re so inclined. And bundle up! It’s getting rough out there.
Smokey Sweet Potato Slow Cooker Stew {vegan & gluten-free}
What You’ll Need:
- 2 1/2 cups chopped sweet potato
- 1 15 ounce can kidney beans
- 1 15 ounce can northern white beans (or navy beans or Cannellini beans)
- 2 15 ounce cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (and their juice)
- 1-2 15 ounces of water (just fill up the can used for the tomatoes – and decide how thick or thin you want the stew)
- 1 small jalapeño, chopped
- 1 medium red onion, chopped
- 1 medium red pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
What You’ll Do:
- Chop the sweet potato, onion and peppers
- If you’re making the full batch (you have a large slow cooker) add directly to the slow cooker. Otherwise, put them all in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the beans and spices (and if you’re making a half batch, mix well then separate half the veggies into the slow cooker)
- Add the diced tomatoes (1 can for 1/2 batch, 2 cans for full) and water to the slow cooker
- On low heat, let the stew cook in the slow cooker for 4-6 hours. (If you’re making half the batch, put the remaining veggies in a mason jar and toss in your freezer for whenever you’ll want to make it. All you’ll need to do is add a can of tomatoes and some water.)
- After the stew is cooked, top with fresh cilantro and Daiya cheddar cheese (optional). Serve with crusty bread or rice. Enjoy!
Girl Eats Greens 
I was wondering if there was a vegan/veritarian reason to buy a slow cooker. You just convinced me! Thanks for sharing what looks to be a delicious recipe!
Thank you for swinging by! And I thought that too for a while – what to do with a slow cooker sans meat. Turns out there’s a ton of recipes to make – I’ll be sure to keep on posting some too. Enjoy! 🙂